Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF, MRL one way railroading in Montana

With the Hi-Line out of service at Minot, MRL and BNSF have instituted one way railroading in Montana. Westbounds are using the MRL between Laurel and Sandpoint and eastbounds are going via Whitefish and Great Falls. Since that causes major crew imbalances, on the MRL, deadheading crews are being flown back to their originating terminal. Between Helena and Laurel the crews are being flown in a pair of twin engine prop planes. And between Missoula and Helena they are using Mr. Washington's corporate Jet. apparently BNSF is paying for the expedited deadhead service as part of the one-way running.
Since the start of the year, the Hi-Line has been one disaster after another, with the MRL playing the part of savior most of the time. Just wondering how much longer until BNSF writes Dennis Washington a check for the MRL.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

The latest over here in Spocompton is that Washington is about ready to go under. Not sure what the terms of lease are regarding giveback, but the next 12-36 months mightbe interesting.

> The latest over here in Spocompton is that Washington is about ready to go under.

That would be an amazing development, given that Washington is one of the wealthiest men in the country. I wouldn't bet on what you hear in the gossip rooms of Spokaloo.

> Not sure what the terms of lease are regarding giveback, but the next 12-36 months
> might be interesting.

The lease was an amazingly watertight thing the BN lawyers wrote, that even they haven't found a way to break in the intervening years. BNSF continues to find itself desperately needing the southern route, which BN's 'college boys' deemed worthless in the late '80s. Washington corporation is guaranteed a base amount every quarter regardless of traffic levels. Beyond a set base quantity of cars, MRL gets a set amount per car delivered across the system. I suspect the only way the MRL will cease to exist is if the BNSF crosses Mr. Washington's hand with a large quantity of silver.

steeplecab
Helena

BNSF already tried to starve out the MRL back in the early 2000's and it didn't work then. With all the extra traffic BNSF has sent over the MRL this year, I would think that the MRL is doing rather well at this point. In fact I was wondering if the MRL was considering adding any more SD70ACES to the roster to handle the extra traffic.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

I was in Missoula on June 28. 19 westbound trains on the 24-hour line-up, only 2 or 3 eastbound. Lots of unusual moves: For example, the Great Falls - Sweet Grass manifest detouring via Vancouver BC (!) and a Prince Rupert coal train with a CP unit on the point.

Best regards,

Rob L.

cates625 Wrote:
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> The latest over here in Spocompton is that
> Washington is about ready to go under. Not sure
> what the terms of lease are regarding giveback,
> but the next 12-36 months mightbe interesting.

OK. Have to ask. Since when did Spokane deteriorate as a city that it's now being referred to as "Spocompton"??

I guess this means that if the old group NWA (from Compton, CA) can name an album "Straight Outta Compton", some new group from Spokane will name theirs "Straight Outta Spokane"?


AM

According to FlightAware and others, the jet in question is a Beechjet 400, a light jet originally marketed by Mitsubishi. This one is registered to a Seattle owner. Have never seen one on the Washington Corp. roster nor any of the paper companies used to register Washington aircraft.

Last I checked, "Mr. Washington's jet..." was a BBJ (737). At times, they have also had A Gulfstream IV (registered to "DRW Financial") and a Hawker.

I understand BNSF is paying for the flights, so it makes more sense for any number of reasons that so-called 135 operators (charter services) are doing the work instead of corporate (Part 91) aircraft.

The corporate jet owned by a Washington Corp. entity was used the first day or two of flying crews from Spokane to Missoula while the charter service jet service was set up. Most of the information originally posted by Ted about MRL's operations during these detours can be found in more detail on the MRL YahooGroup list.

Paul Birkholz
Sheridan, WY

Mr Washington..Mr Buffett is on the phone for you... He is wondering if you would like to have coffee on the train with him and Bill Gates.
RB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/11 18:09 by up833.

For some reason Spokane has become a straight annex for LA gang members. Running highest per capita short of LA itself. I do not knwo what the draw is but the pipeline is still running strong.... That about as good as it gets for details, but trust me it is real... The rumor about MRL is that Washington's kids want nothing to do with the railroad, setting the stage for an interesting future...

cates625 Wrote:
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> For some reason Spokane has become a straight
> annex for LA gang members. Running highest per
> capita short of LA itself. I do not knwo what the
> draw is but the pipeline is still running
> strong.... That about as good as it gets for
> details, but trust me it is real... The rumor
> about MRL is that Washington's kids want nothing
> to do with the railroad, setting the stage for an
> interesting future...

Jeeeez I thought they were all in Spokane to play basketball at Gonzaga. I must be way behind the times...


AM

Well that's one place I wouldn't want to move to, that's the main reason I left the Antelope Valley!

Things must be slow in the Great Northern Bar in Whitefish which seems to be the source of most anti MRL, anti Denny W rumors.

No, neither the MRL, nor the owner are on verge of financial collapse. In fact 2010 was the best year financially in it's existance. Profit sharing distributed to employees this spring reflects that.

cates625 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For some reason Spokane has become a straight
> annex for LA gang members. Running highest per
> capita short of LA itself. I do not knwo what the
> draw is but the pipeline is still running
> strong.... That about as good as it gets for
> details, but trust me it is real... The rumor
> about MRL is that Washington's kids want nothing
> to do with the railroad, setting the stage for an
> interesting future...

One son is busy managing the barge, steam ship, terminal operations in Canada.

D. R. Washington never managed the railroad himself, he hired others for the hands on part of the job. The future president of Washington Corporations does not need to have an interest in the railroad either. He just needs to select the board of directors and let them take care of who runs the various companies in the corporation.

The corporation lives beyond the owner(s).

Ok, it's late and I just read through this thread and have a few questions.

1. Is Spokane getting that bad or is there some exaggeration going on here? I live down in Vegas and know a bunch of Southwest Airlines employees that would love to get a transfer up there but can't because of the popularity of the area. Myself and them are under the impression that Spokane is far from and relatively free of The LA gang member type and various other sub species of the human race.

2. Is the Washington group really ready to divest itself of the railroad or is this just some inflated rumor started by an attention starved TO member?

Just curious in Sin City.
Steve B.

stevelv Wrote:
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> Ok, it's late and I just read through this thread
> and have a few questions.
>
> 1. Is Spokane getting that bad or is there some
> exaggeration going on here? I live down in Vegas
> and know a bunch of Southwest Airlines employees
> that would love to get a transfer up there but
> can't because of the popularity of the area.
> Myself and them are under the impression that
> Spokane is far from and relatively free of The LA
> gang member type and various other sub species of
> the human race.
>
> 2. Is the Washington group really ready to divest
> itself of the railroad or is this just some
> inflated rumor started by an attention starved TO
> member?
>
> Just curious in Sin City.
> Steve B.

1. Certain areas are that bad. I really don't know what the draw is other than poor white people needing drugs. Stick to the burbs and it's ok.

2. Not attentioned starved. The rumor, since you ask, came from the corridor superintendant for the BNSF and other local BNSF employees. Personally I could care less. Really...

Thanks for the quick reply cates625 and sorry if I came across badly on the rumor. I've just seen too many guys on here shooting from the hip without facts. It would be a shame to see the MRL go back to BNSF if that were the case. It would be just as bad as losing the Wisconsin Central to CN.
As far as poor white people needing drugs I find it sad that an area as nice as Spokane has fallen under this unfortunate circumstance that plagues many areas of our great country. A lot of people don't realize that one of the main reasons Mexico has disintegrated into a dangerous violent cartel infested nation is the USA's insatiable appetite for hard drugs.

I wonder why they aren't using NetJets?

Spokane is far from being LA, in fact I think the Russians are more troublesome than the gangs. There were several Russian Mafia connected businesses in Spokane, particularly among the automotive field. I had a few run-in's a of a minor nature during my time there. I almost never saw any evidence of black gangs there, and I was all over that city. Certainly parts of Portland, OR are far more dangerous than what you'll find in Spokane.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Before these posts fall onto page 2...

Mr. MRL - no comment.

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